Living A Double Life: A Secret Kept
by LysPotter
Summary: Our favorite boy hero and his brainy sidekick are not who they appear. How will they take the news? SBxOC, RLxOC, RWxHG, HPxGW Currently on Hiatus
1. Prologue A Pair of Prophecy

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would not watch my vegetarian mother eat spaghetti with vegetables while reading a book for entertainment. I would also be a helluva lot richer. I don't own this, thanks, as much as I am flattered that you think so.

A/N: Plot bunny, bothered me for a month before I started writing it. It sucks, but it's as good as it gets.

Prologue: The Pair of Prophecy

Sirius Orion Black looked proudly down at his wife and his newborn son, both of whom lay on a white-sheeted, sterile Muggle hospital bed. Meghan Aletha Potter-Black smiled up at him wearily before looking over at the bed next to hers.

Katherine Ashley Granger-Lupin held up and introduced her tiny daughter, young Anne Rose Lupin. Anne, wide-awake to young Matthew John Black's asleep, blinked owlishly at her mother's best friend.

Katherine Lupin—known to her friends simply as Kate—looked up at her husband, Remus John Lupin. "What do you think, love?" she asked him, her low voice slightly huskier than usual with fatigue and emotion.

"Kate," he told her, "she's the only girl I love even near as much as I love you." He kissed Anne's and then Kate's foreheads, drawing a smile from his exhausted wife as he patted her long curly hair.

Meghan quietly stroked little Matt's hair before voicing the thought they were all thinking. "Too bad they can't stay."

Kate's smiling face fell as she cuddled Anne. "Remus, are you sure they have to go?" she asked her husband, who currently worked as an Unspeakable in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries.

"I wish I was wrong, love," he replied sadly. "But the prophecy clearly states that Matt and Anne have to grow up with foster-families."

"At least David and Jane can take my little girl in," Kate said, rather despondently, as she kissed the top of baby Anne's head.

"And, no one will ever know she's not really Muggle, since you schooled with your brother back at your home in Canada instead of with all of us at Hogwarts," Sirius hurried to assure Kate. "Plus, the Jane McKinnon-Granger I know was always good at glamour charms. So, you may not even recognize Anne when you next see her. Which probably won't be for a while, considering. So you won't recognize her anyway."

"And," James Andrew Potter, Meghan's older brother, said laughingly as he entered the room, "Lily bribed our dearest old friend, the fraud Sybill Trelawney, to manufacture a false prophecy to keep the great Albus Dumbledore off our trail."

"Although I must wonder why you and the others asked me to do such a crazy thing, James," Lily Anne Evans-Potter retorted as she entered behind him. "You said you wanted a little prophecy about our new nephew Matt, but you know Sybill will throw whatever I suggested out the window and blow it all out of proportion. That woman always had decidedly Slytherin qualities for a Hufflepuff."

"Lily," Meghan laughed at her sister-in-law, "what kind of poison exactly has Sybill been pouring down our venerable old professor's ear?"

"Oh, just some very obvious junk about Matt being the 'chosen one' to defeat Lord Voldemort. Well, not necessarily Matt, but all evidence pointed to him," Lily conceded at James's reproving frown.

The four true parents went white as the sheets the new mothers lay on.

"No," Sirius abruptly denied, shaking his head vehemently. "No, she didn't say anything of the sort."

"Well, umm, yeah, she kinda did. Is that bad?" Lily asked tentatively, now feeling more than a little apprehensive.

"That's almost exactly what the real prophecy says, except that little Anne's included in the mix," Remus told the redhead. His brunette wife shivered, her long loose roan-colored curls trembling with her.

Meghan pulled her raven-haired head off the pillow. "What _exactly_ did Sybill Trelawney say, Lily? What _exactly_ is Dumbledore thinking about my son?" Her sapphire-blue eyes glinted dangerously.

"Come on, now, calm down, sis," James said a little nervously to Meghan. "If anything happens to us, he'll go to Sirius anyway. Sirius and you, really, since we're spreading it around that we made you the godparents."

"And what if something really does happen to you? What then, hmm, James?" Meghan demanded. "Will you just hope that no one figures out that Matt actually is our son when he's living with us?"

"Umm, let's see, is 'yes' the right answer?" James guessed, a little haphazardly. Meghan's face darkened. "Well, guess not then. I'll take 'no' for a hundred pounds." He had about five seconds before Meghan exploded.

"James Andrew Potter! You know that all of our public lives are a complete and total ruse! You know that no one outside our circle even knows Sirius and I and Kate and Remus are bloody married! You know what's at stake, James, darn you! You've heard the entire contents of the prophecy. If anyone finds out because of you that they're our children before it's all supposed to be revealed, Voldemort will kill all of us while we're busy solving our own problems or unprepared for his stupid, vicious acts, and he'll completely ruin the wizarding world's chances of survival!"

Remus faced an uncomfortable James as he shifted from foot to foot. He opened his mouth and recited part of the true prophecy. "You remember, James. 'The time quickly approaches, as the seventh month slowly draws to a close. A young boy for the pearl and a young girl for the pure one, the two will be separated from birth till fate bids them meet. Sent to the pearl's and the pure one's brothers, they will grow up in different worlds, not knowing their true parentage. Only these two, marked from birth, will have the power to defeat the Dark Lord. No one else will be able to, try as they may. But only time will tell, as they cannot survive if he does.' And marked they are, Prongs," the male lycanthrope told his friend. He took Anne's tiny right hand and turned it palm-up. There, in a darker hue than the rest of the girl's skin, was an unmistakable eight-pointed star. Meghan gently uncurled sleeping Matt's fist, displaying his identical mark. "If they die, the rest of us should just chuck ourselves off the nearest bridge before Voldemort kills us too."

"Remus, you do realize you're in a Muggle hospital, right?" James Marie McKinnon-Granger asked as she entered the room purposefully, followed by her husband and Kate's older brother, David Thomas Granger. "And you could try to be a bit more cheerful," she added. "It is your beautiful daughter's birthday." Kate smiled at them both and showed them Anne. Jane cooed over the baby as Kate introduced her.

"This is Anne Rose Lupin, your newborn niece and foster-daughter. You're going to raise her like a Muggle there in London, right?" When David looked pleadingly at his younger sister, she frowned at him. "You promised me, David Thomas Granger. You said that since you and Jane were already playing Muggle at home, you'd go the extra mile just for your baby sister and raise her little daughter that way. Don't you remember? That's the reason I agreed to let Jane change Anne's middle name as well as her first."

"Change her middle name? To what, exactly?" Remus demanded. "What's wrong with Rose, might I ask, Jane, David?"

"We just thought that the whole relation thing would be a bit more plausible if her middle name was my first name—you know, Hermione Jane Granger. Besides, it has a certain ring to it," Jane explained. "Plus, the whole neighborhood already thinks that 'Little Miss Hermione Jane' is coming home soon—September. Although we're going to keep her hidden until then. And yes, we're paranoid. Don't worry, she'll be safe."

"So your false pregnancy charms worked?" Meghan inquired interestedly. It had taken the women weeks to find the correct charms for Lily, Jane, Kate, and Meghan, seeing as Lily and Jane had to play pregnant while Meghan and Kate had to play _not_ pregnant. The charms ended up being right under their nose the whole time, Kate remembered wryly.

"As well as your own charms to _hide_ your pregnancies worked," Lily replied with a grin. "Even Dumbledore was fooled."

"So were the women on our block," David laughed. Jane shoved him. Obviously, the couple had very different opinions of the incident in question.

"No, you're not going to tell them about that!"

"Why not? The look on your face was completely priceless!" Jane stuck out her tongue at him. Meghan hid a laugh behind her hand, remembering how the woman had once been reserved around David. "The women on our block threw Jane here a baby shower."

"A baby shower is a hideous, barbaric Muggle custom—its only goal is to utterly humiliate mothers-to-be," Jane inserted. "If you ever want to see it, David caught the whole bleeding thing on video. Make sure I'm out of the house."

"Come on, now, Jane, grin and bear it," her brother-in-law teased. "You were the one that said you were tired of wizarding life and would like to live as a Muggle. You didn't think about baby showers at the time, I presume."

"Of course not! I was only eighteen! I hadn't even met David yet."

"That's because he wasn't out of Canada," Meghan pointed out. "Neither was Kate. You were just this madwoman asking me what I thought you should do with your life."

"And Dumbledore couldn't think of anything either," Sirius remembered. "So you left the bustle of wizarding society when he wasn't looking."

"I don't like keeping Dumbledore out of this. Not at all," Kate fretted. "He could provide Anne with some extra protection; your Matt too."

"You do remember the other part of the prophecy though, don't you, Kate dear?" Remus queried, running a hand through his dark brown hair.

"Yeah," Kate sighed defeatedly. " 'None but the related shall know of the two's true heritage until it is deemed time.' And that last part makes me want to scream. 'Despite the pure one's maternal instinct, she won't see the rose for fifteen years.' Fifteen bloody years before I get to see Anne again!"

"Hmm, that must be when it is 'deemed time', since you won't be able to keep your mouth shut when you see her," Remus observed to his wife's protests. "Also, it's the only indication of extended time in the entire prophecy."

"I suppose so," Sirius agreed. "Ah, Moony, does Unspeakable training have a special, separate session just to learn how to decipher prophecies?"

"No."

"Sirius is just trying—and failing miserably—to say that you seem to have a lot of expertise in that particular field," Meghan tried to joke, but her own smile was strained. She handed Matt to Sirius just as he woke up. "You are going to show Mum and Dad their grandson as Matt Black, James," she ordered her brother with a flippant toss of her long, jet-black hair, rumpled and tangled as it lay on the pillow, a sharp contrast to her normal well-kept appearance. "But you'd better let Lily do the glamour charm before you go to see Dumbledore. I really don't want Matt's head flying off on his very first birthday."

"Lily, you did get the book in Dumbledore's office last week, right?" James asked his wife, who nodded. They were speaking, of course, of the book in which all magical children's names were written.

"Yes. It'll read Harry James Potter and Hermione Jane Granger when their names come up, and Hermione Granger won't appear until you wanted her to, which was 28 August, correct?" Kate nodded. "Funny thing about that book. It's easier to get to keep your secrets than any other magical object I've encountered. In truth, I think it's a bit risky. But in this case, it's a good thing it's so suggestible."

"Good. And you know, it's really quite interesting. Not only did Meghan and Kate have their first children on the exact same day, but those children were also born at the exact same minute of the exact same hour of that day. These two little ones could very well be twins if they didn't have different parents." Remus ruffled Anne's fuzzy short hair playfully. The baby snuffled agreeably at her father.

"Acute observation, Captain Obvious," Kate told her husband dryly. "Although Anne is the best-behaved newborn infant I've seen. She hasn't cried since we started talking." She handed Remus the baby and pushed herself up on her elbows.

"Fine, it was a stupid thing to say. Hey, 'Mione. How's my little girl?" Remus smiled at the baby, although he was a little scared of dropping his daughter. "'Mione" blinked long-lashed, deep brown eyes at her father. "Umm, Kate? Do babies' eyes usually change color quite this fast?"

"Her eyes have changed already?" Kate asked, sitting upright to look at her daughter's eyes. "Usually only Metamorphmagi change so early in their life." Suddenly, she looked up into Remus's gold-flecked azure eyes. "No…" She hurriedly looked down at Anne again. "What color were her eyes, love?" the Healer asked absently.

"Brown," Remus replied, nonplussed. Kate lay back on her pile of pillows and threw up expressive, long-fingered hands. "Well, that's torn it," she said tiredly. "They're bloody green now."

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this particular discovery?" Remus asked the ceiling, which remained as mute as ever.

"Congratulations, Remus John Lupin. Your daughter's a Metamorphmagus," Kate said with a wry smile.

"Well," Jane sighed heavily. "What should we do about this—development? Fortunate as it is, we don't have the time to deal with it now. I'm surprised Dumbledore isn't bursting in here all ready."

"I'm pretty sure Lily knows some kind of binding charms that'll keep Anne's gift quiet. That kind of gift is suppressed in Muggles, I think, so it'll save her a lot of extra trouble," Meghan told the mother and aunt of the little girl. Meghan was the Auror of the group of women and the main magical expert, Jane not particularly caring, and Kate and Lily too into their Healing to really worry about it.

"Sure I know them. It's basic Healing for any sort of Incorrectly Applied Charms that interfere with the person's magic. But are you sure you want to do that to any child?" Lily asked Kate and Meghan apprehensively. "I'm not sure that's really good for the kid."

"If you're careful, it won't really matter. I've heard of more than some wizarding parents doing things like that, if they don't think their kid's magical abilities will let them lead a good life," Kate explained, taking Anne in her own arms.

Lily and Meghan exchanged glances. "Which is what you're doing now," Meghan commented with a wry laugh.

"Muggleborns aren't usually Metamorphmagi. You just said it yourself," Kate retorted, childishly sticking out her long tongue in the other woman's direction. "Take that, Mrs. Black!" She pulled her tongue back into her mouth. "I'd like to see you beat that."

"I can't," Meghan said simply, with the air of one long used to the argument. "You and Remus have the longest tongues I've ever seen. I think Lily and James ought to take Matt to Mum and Dad now," she said, looking up at her husband as she tactfully changed the subject.

Sirius looked at his son sadly as he handed him to James. "James, take good care of him, or else. And you had better believe I'll be visiting a lot."

"About that," James began. "Actually, Sirius, Meghan, Dumbledore wants us to go under Fidelius to protect little 'Harry'. Someone who's right up there with Lord Moldyshorts heard Sybill's stirring performance—which, by the way, got her a job—and apparently, the big V thinks it's for true, just like old Uncle Albus. So, how about you as the Secret Keeper, Pads? He is your son, after all."

The Grangers and the Lupins left the room quietly, Remus supporting Kate while she carried little Anne.

"What if I get captured, and tortured as a member of the Order and then he kills Matt?" Sirius asked, a little panicked. "It's not safe. I'm the obvious choice—I'm your best friend, and I've known you for who knows how long. Voldemort, seeing me as the logical choice, will come after me, and you know I can't even keep my mouth shut when someone tickles me. Who's to say any of us will be safe after that?"

"If Voldemort comes, we really don't stand a chance, any of us," Meghan agreed. "Not you, not me, not Lily, not Matt."

"Give it to Peter!" Sirius exclaimed immediately. "No one would ever suspect him as your Secret-Keeper. He's such a bloody stupid duffer that no one even remembers we played at school together, usually. They 'know' you wouldn't trust Peter with something this important. I don't think Lord Ugly-Mug will suspect it's him either." He turned to his wife. "What do you think, Pearl?" he asked, using his pet name for her.

"Meghan," she corrected sternly, shoving him away with a barely suppressed grin. "And yes, I think it's a good idea. But, remember, Dumbledore said someone was a spy for Voldemort. If it's Remus, David, Jane, or Kate, we're all done for, but, in any case, not a word of this to anyone but Peter."

"Dumbledore did say it was someone close. I trust Remus, David, Jane, and Kate. Peter, I'm not so sure," objected Lily. "This is my only nephew we're talking about. And, it's your son, Meghan. Are _you_ sure you trust Peter?"

"Why on earth would Peter go Dark?" Meghan said quizzically. "He's got friends, Mrs. Pettigrew to take care of—she seems to be really sick…Why would he go Dark if he's got so much to protect?" she asked rhetorically. Sirius nodded in agreement. The explanation was logical. Lily sighed but relented nonetheless.

"Fine then, Peter can do it. I hope to Merlin that you two know what you're doing. With Matt's life, no less." She looked sternly at her sister-in-law and Sirius. "So how long do you think we'll be raising him?"

"Until he really needs us," Meghan replied sadly, looking at the baby in her brother's arms. "Meaning until Remus says it's all good and okay for us to tell him. So you better not spoil the boy. We'll have to deal mainly with his teenage years, most likely, and those are hard anyway, from what I've heard and what I remember of my own childhood. You're not the doting aunt and uncle, you're his occasionally stern but always loving parents."

"Aye, aye, little sister," James joked, saluting his sister.

"So ask Peter today, do the Fidelius Charm tomorrow," Lily confirmed as Sirius and Meghan kissed their baby boy one last time before he became, to all appearances, Harry James Potter. Meghan nodded, trying to smile at her sister-in-law through her tears.

"I'll bet you two Galleons he and Anne end up getting married," James told Sirius as he handed the baby to Lily. Sirius likewise had tears in his eyes.

"If I know Jane, she'll end up some sort of bookworm. Not Matt, he'll be a junior Marauder. So I'll take that bet."

"I wish you wouldn't bet on such things, love," Meghan chided sternly, levering herself off the bed slowly, walking to her husband to give him a hug. She herself knew that the extended prophecy indicated the love that would eventually pass between the two. "You'd better take care of him, Lily Anne Potter. I'm going to be coming by at least twice a week, mind you, James. This _is_ my son, and I want to know what you're teaching to my baby." James promised, hugged his sister tightly, and shook hands with his best friend before leaving the brilliantly white hospital room.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Sirius asked forlornly as Matt left the room, sleeping now in his loving aunt's arms.

"I feel like I've shirked my duty too," Meghan admitted. "But you know Remus wouldn't have had it any other way. Plus, we want to keep Matt and Anne safe. This is the best way to do that.

"I just wish it didn't feel like the worst," she sighed profoundly. She fell uncharacteristically into her husband's warm and comforting embrace, her head resting on his shoulder. He kissed her hair gently, feeling rather than seeing her tears flowing down her cheeks and onto his shoulder and trying to hold his own back.

"You'll see, dear heart. Everything will be just fine," he whispered in her ear, hoping that it would be true.

A/N: IS SIRIUS OOC? Cuz I think he probably is. Oh well, I like my OOC Sirius.

Yours,

LysPotter


	2. 1 Birthday Cakes and Grocery Bags

Disclaimer: Still think I own Harry Potter, hmm? pats person on head Well, you are as sweet as candy, ya know, and here's some pretty paper for you cough cough, admission to mental institute, cough cough See ya, My Boy Lollipop! (Don't ask, I'm on a sugar high! WHOOHOO!)

Previously, Meghan and Sirius Black and Kate and Remus Lupin resign Matthew Black and Anne Lupin to their maternal uncles and aunts-by-marriage. Peter Pettigrew is appointed Secret Keeper. Meghan and Sirius wonder if this all is the appropriate course.

**Chapter One: Birthday Cakes and Grocery Bags**

"Hiya, Harry!" Meghan exclaimed upon seeing her young "nephew", who was one year old by now. She had just been out charitably doing the grocery shopping for the Potters. Matt, James, and Lily currently lived in a cottage that was owned by the Potter family (under Fidelius Charm). The tiny house was an outpost of the huge Potter mansion, usually reserved for Potter children's large birthday and other parties.

"Meg!" Lily exclaimed, coming out of the kitchen. "Thank you _so_ much! James!" she called. "Your sister's here!"

"Right," James called back. "Just give me a minute, would you? I just stepped in the door five minutes ago! How does she manage to get off work so early?"

"He doesn't know that my partner doesn't tattle on me if I leave early," Meghan whispered confidentially to Lily, who laughed. "Frank never does anything that's 'dishonest'. Doesn't think it's right to keep secrets from the Department head." Frank Longbottom and James were partnering Aurors. James padded down the stairs. He had obviously just changed out of his sedate navy blue Auror robes, because he was wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans, like Meghan and Lily. Since they had befriended Lily, all Marauders and those who knew them had become increasingly comfortable in Muggle attire. He saw the groceries and looked at his wife, confused.

"Lily, I swear I never heard you and Harry leave! And you usually tell me when you leave the house before I get home, because you know I hate it when you go out of the house…"

"Meghan went and got them for us," Lily told her husband. He just gaped at his younger sister, who smiled devilishly.

"Let me guess. 'Meghan, how on earth do you get out of the Ministry so early?' I have a good partner, James, unlike you. Kathleen doesn't want me to die of overwork—herself either." Kathleen Williams was Meghan's Auror partner. "She understands that I have a life outside of work. Of course, she's trying to get me to meet a good guy. Says I should be married by now."

James whistled. "Bet Sirius loves that," he said in an undertone. Meghan nodded.

"You know, he might actually. Because that means our ruse is working. Anyway, how's my little Harry?" she crooned, picking up the raven-haired boy. "How's my little boy?"

"Oh, Meghan, I forgot to tell you!" Lily exclaimed. "He's started talking now!"

"Oh have you, Harry?" Meghan asked the baby, who giggled. She pointed to James. "Do you know who that is, Harry?" she asked.

"P'ongs!" he said, chortling in his adorable baby way. Meghan looked at the foster-parents, who shrugged.

"He won't call me Daddy," James explained. "We were trying to work it in, but he refuses to call me anything else."

"Who's that?" Meghan changed the subject, asking Matt gently as she pointed to Lily. Matt pointed at her as well.

"F'ower!" he squealed.

"Okay, you two," Meghan said seriously. "Don't you use any more pet names for each other around Harry. Call each other Mummy and Daddy around him. Promise me that. He can't understand it if he's supposed to call you something different than what you call each other."

"Got it, little sister," James said immediately. "Cut the pet names. Now, Harry, what else should we tell Auntie Meghan about?"

**In a small cottage in the middle of nowhere...**

"Kate." Jane had called over the telephone to talk to her sister-in-law. "Get yourself over here right now. It is your daughter's false birthday, and her 'aunt' should be there with her 'uncle' to celebrate. So get your husband off his chair and drag him over here. Tell him that it's not dangerous to see his daughter. I don't care what kind of language you have to use."

"Okay, okay, Jane," Kate laughed. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"You'd better." The women said goodbye, and Kate hung up the phone Remus had installed in Moonlight Cottage when they moved in.

"Remus!" she called. "Put on something nice and get over here. We're going to see Anne. No arguments, please."

Remus did grumble—all the way to the door of the Grangers' Muggle London home. But he came, not reluctantly. As much as he argued, he _wanted_ to see his daughter.

They—or, rather, the nervously excited Kate—rang the doorbell. Jane answered it in about half a second. Seeing her sister-in-law, Kate let out a laugh. Jane was wearing a pink apron over her sensible pale yellow T-shirt and jeans. If there was one color you _never, never_ ever saw Jane Marie McKinnon Granger wear, it was pink. Remus bit back a smile and nodded at the brunette woman. "We're here to see a little girl named Hermione? Think you might have her around here somewhere?"

"Oh, Remus," Jane said, aggravated. "Get in here, you two. Do you know what my one-year-old daughter has managed to do?"

"Ah, no," Kate said, entering the house with an air of apprehension. "What exactly did my darling niece do?"

"Your niece—or daughter may I say," she muttered, closing the door swiftly, "has managed to overturn the bowl of flour I was using to make a cake—on David's head. While he now looks about eighty years old, she is crawling around in it like there is no tomorrow. And she did it without her hands."

"Ho-ly shit," Kate muttered. "You are so bleeding kidding me, Jane Marie."

"Love to tell you that I am," Jane said honestly, "but I have to disappoint you. I was standing right there. Somehow, she lifted that bowl up with her _eyes_ and turned it upside down right over David."

Remus had hurried ahead of them, and they could hear his laughter in the kitchen from the hall. Jane led Kate right to the doorway, pointing at Kate's brother, who sat in a puff of flour, his hair and clothes covered in it. He didn't seem to notice that he looked like he had suddenly aged about fifty years. He was playing with his niece, pushing her lightly across the kitchen floor. She slid easily, giggling madly.

Kate doubled over in helpless laughter. "Come here, 'Mione," she laughed. To her surprise, the one-year-old girl crawled right over to her mother. Kate picked the girl up, sitting down with her daughter on her lap as she cuddled the brunette baby close.

"Were you messing with Mummy's baking?" Kate asked.

"No," the little girl said clearly. That just made Remus laugh harder.

"Oh, shut up, Remus," David said crossly.

"Make me," he chortled.

**And now a note from LysPotter!**

Sorry, I have no little break lines. Just wanted to say I enjoyed writing this story and this is a horribly short chapter of it...please enjoy!

Luv,

LysPotter

and MEGHAN!

LP: Sorry, Pearl...you can do the disclaimer next time, okay?

M: innocently Thanks. Please review...Lyssie would say it, only then she'd be an awful hypocrite since she never reviews...or rarely does, at least...

LP: sigh Sadly, it's the truth. Luv ya all again,

LysPotter and Meghan


	3. 2 Life is a Pain in the umm Neck

Disclaimer: --courtesy of Meghan-- If LysPotter owned Harry Potter, she would not be so proud of me...seeing as I--that's right, ME--I am the best character she has ever created. And you should know that. In fact, I am rather a good character...but Lys doesn't think so...she thinks maybe I'm a Mary Sue. And then I tell her my name is Meghan and it has never been Mary. And she laughs. Back on topic. She doesn't own Harry Potter. HAPPY? Finally, I can take a nap.--What are you doing, Matthew?

**Chapter 3: Life is a Pain in the...Well, You Know**

Later, less joyful events played out as they would. Only three months after Matt and Anne's first birthday, the Dark Lord killed Meghan's brother and sister-in-law. Matt barely escaped with his young life.

Anne never got to see her "aunt" and "uncle" again. Remus firmly opposed any contact, hoping not to give the appearance of Anne's not being a true Muggleborn—which would disrupt their story.

And why didn't Matt himself come to his true mother and "aunt" when his "parents" died as opposed to Petunia Dursley? Meghan ran into a spot of trouble with Narcissa Black Malfoy, although everyone was under the impression that Meghan had simply dueled with a Death Eater that later died, because Narcissa Malfoy was very evasive when it came to the law.

Everyone knows the story. Peter Pettigrew, 'crazed with grief', confronted Sirius about his 'betrayal' of Lily, James, and Matt. Sirius, 'mad and Dark', had 'blown up the street' and 'killed twelve Muggles and Peter.' The street in Muggle London was completely destroyed. Sirius took all the blame.

But that's not the true story. Sirius Black, crazed with grief, confronted _Peter _about his betrayal of his son, best friend, and that friend's wife. Peter, the true Dark one, had blown up the street and killed the twelve Muggles. He had then chopped off a finger, transformed into his rat Animagus (An Animagus is a wizard that can turn into an animal. Sirius, James, Lily, Meghan, Peter, and Kate were all Animagi. Sirius was a huge black dog. James was a stag. Lily was a red tiger. Meghan was a Siberian tiger, Peter a rat, and Kate a mountain lion. They had become Animagi to accompany Remus, a werewolf, on his monthly transformations. It also helped in disguises during Order of the Phoenix missions.). Sirius, who is infamous for finding the oddest things funny, laughed as Ministry officials took him to Azkaban. Sirius was the only one left standing, so it was assumed that he had committed the crime.

Narcissa Malfoy, Sirius's cousin and a former Black, had chosen to take her revenge for the Dark Lord on Meghan because she was directly related to the boy who had vanquished the Dark Lord, who was also the man she had called "Master". (Although just how closely they were related, she had no idea.) Unwisely, thinking that Meghan would shortly be killed, she had told Meghan exactly how Peter had planned to escape. But even she didn't know about the others' Animagus forms, just Peter's. Meghan's blood boiled at the injustice done to her husband. Meghan had disappeared, unconscious or recovering, for a few days after the duel that Malfoy assumed had killed her. That was enough time for an official obituary to appear in the _Daily_ _Prophet_, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge to hold a ceremonious funeral for the Auror, and the death of one of Britain's best Aurors to appear on the front page of a Muggle newspaper. She turned up on her parents' doorstep about a week after the duel, which had taken place at Godric's Hollow. (Meghan had been at her brother and sister-in-law's house, grieving for her friend and her brother, when the woman attacked.) She had made her mother scream loud enough to be heard from London at the Potters' country mansion (Actually, no one heard her. If they had, Meghan's secret would have been out). But she stayed on there. At Elizabeth Potter's suggestion, she played her (false) niece, Louise Campbell, daughter of Elizabeth's sister. Andrew Potter—her father—thought both women completely paranoid.

Meghan would have preferred to find Matt and bring him back and raise him herself, but he was already in Lily's sister's care, living in Petunia and Vernon Dursley's home—wherever that was. Meghan had no idea where it was, a fact that really aggravated the young mother. No, it more than aggravated her. She was point-blank furious.

"My son has been sent to his aunt-by-marriage—actually, I'm pretty sure that's not even considered an aunt-by-marriage, because that was Lily when she married James—and I don't even know where he is," she muttered, pacing in her bedroom. "They've locked my husband in Azkaban for something he didn't do, my brother and sister-in-law are dead at the hand of a mad mass-murderer, and I'm playing Louise Campbell if I ever want to leave this house again. Merlin. I wish there had never been a prophecy. Kate and Remus—bloody hell. Remus and Kate don't know Sirius is innocent and wasn't the Secret Keeper. They think Sirius handed his own son over to Voldemort. Damn it all. Damn it all straight to bleeding hell.

"But I can't just go over to the Lupins' house when everyone thinks I'm dead. That'd deafen anyone within a mile of the house—Kate can scream. I want Sirius. I want my Matt. I want James. I want Lily. I want Kate. I want my friends. I just want everything to go back to the way it was before all this Peter junk. Damn you, Lord Voldemort. Tom Riddle. Whatever bloody name you go by right now. I hate you. And hate is a strong word. But I honestly mean it. Go to hell. Please. Immediately."

Someone knocked on her door. "Meghan, dear?" Elizabeth's voice came. "Are you talking to yourself again? I think you should come down for dinner before it gets cold. The house-elves have really outdone themselves this time. Your father's waiting."

Meghan opened the door and walked down the stairs toward the dining room with her mother. "I wasn't talking to myself," she insisted. "I was cursing Voldemort and trying to get him to die, dunno how though; that doesn't matter. It's much more satisfying than just plain talking to myself."

"And no less productive, I'm sure," Elizabeth said dryly.

"No," Meghan said with a falsely cheerful smile. The two continued on in silence for a few moments. "Mum?"

"Yes, dear?"

"You do believe me, don't you? You believe that Sirius didn't hand James and Lily and Matt over to Voldemort?"

"Of course, dear," Elizabeth said comfortingly. "But you know my testimony won't hold up in a court, because I don't have a definite memory that would prove his innocence, and that means my answer's not Veritaserum-proof. And you can't very well testify for Sirius, since everyone thinks you're dead. So let's stop trying to solve everyone's problems. Sirius will be found innocent soon. Peter'll slip up somewhere. I know that boy. Although I wish I didn't. Why on earth did I trust him?"

"It's not your fault, Mum. Sirius, James, Lily, and I trusted him with James's, Lily's, and Matt's lives. He wasn't enough of a friend to try to save any of them. Lily was spot-on about Peter, and Sirius and I didn't bloody listen. I should have known. His _poor_, _dear_ mother was _always_ sick." She sighed despondently, inwardly cursing Voldemort a hundred times more—just for good measure. "Now my brother's been killed by the Dark Lord of the century, he and my sister-in-law, my husband currently enjoys the Ministry's wonderful hospitality at Azkaban Prison, and my only son is living with my sister-in-law's mean, hard-hearted sister." She shivered. "I hate living when they can't."

"I know, pet, but there's nothing you can do about it," Elizabeth said apologetically. "I'm sorry, Meghan, but—"

"No, Mum," Meghan said flatly. "There is something I can do. Tomorrow, I'm going to go to the Ministry and I'm going to offer them positive testimony on the case of Sirius Orion Black. 'Till death do us part," she declared resolutely, her hand on the polished wood banister. "Even though they may not accept it—probably won't accept it, I've got to try. For Matt. For James and Lily. For Sirius, especially. And for me."

Insert BREAK

Kate Lupin sniffled into Remus's shoulder. "Sirius on the Dark Side—in Azkaban—Meghan, Lily, and James dead, you scrambling for a job after you got fired, Matt and Anne off living who-knows-where…Oh, Remus!" she wailed. Remus, his eyes still huge with the shock of the past few days, patted his weeping wife on the back, thinking his own despairing thoughts as he tried to comfort Kate.

_Sirius betrayed them. Merlin, he betrayed his own _son_! No. He wouldn't. Never. Not Matt. Not with the way he loved that boy. And Meghan…Meghan would have known. She could always get anything out of Sirius. And James too, for that matter. He couldn't've—but Meghan's dead now. If Sirius hadn't betrayed them, any chance of proving him innocent died with her. But he still killed Peter. Innocent, squeaky little Peter. Peter never harmed another living creature! How could you do something like that, Sirius, my old friend? How could you? Was Anne supposed to be next? Do you _want_ to destroy everything?_

"Sirius in Azkaban," he whispered, his voice a rusting hinge that seemed not to have been opened in years, withering from weeping and disuse. He shivered at the very thought of his friend in Azkaban. The couple sat in silence for a while.

"Kate Alster has work tomorrow," Kate tried vainly to joke. Attempting not to call attention to her relationships to Remus and "Hermione" by using either Lupin or Granger, she had chosen a Canadian last name as her alias. She had a friend from Canada named Marian Alster, but they got out of touch when Kate moved.

To make the name change more plausible, she had begun to wear her wedding ring openly. No one asked, consequently, about the change of name the Healer filed at St. Mungo's. They assumed she had just been married to a Canadian fiancée with a surname of Alster. Some of the more gossipy Healers had, of course, commented on Kate's reluctance to speak of her new husband, the mysterious, non-existent Mr. Alster.

"Kate Alster ought to get a bit of rest," Remus tried to answer her lightly, but his creaking voice undermined his effort. He picked up his brunette wife with a soft grunt of effort—she was of average height and thin, a light, bird-boned woman—and carried her the short way to the Lupins' bedroom.

"Remus?"

"What is it, love?" he asked her, dimming the lights with his wand as he lay the woman on the bed.

"D'you think Jane's hiding little 'Mione's identity very well?" Kate asked thickly through an exhausted yawn.

"When Jane hides something, it stays hidden," Remus replied with a bit of a laugh, before realizing that his wife was already fast asleep. He smoothed her long brown curls lovingly. "You just get your rest, Kate, love," he whispered. She smiled a little in her sleep. He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently before dressing in his own pajamas and climbing into bed beside Kate.

Insert ANOTHER BREAK

True to her word, Meghan woke early the next morning, dressed in her most businesslike dark blue robes, and Apparated to the Ministry's guest entrance. She hadn't been to the ancient phone booth in a long while.

Inside the entrance, she told the receptionist—whom she had never figured out; she thought it might be a real human being, but all evidence pointed to it being a recording of some sort—"Louise Campbell, here to offer testimony for Sirius Orion Black." The badge the coin-return slot spat out read her false name and 'hopeless mission' in black script. Obviously, the wizard or witch who conjured the badges had a sense of humor.

Meghan was not amused.

"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium," the cool female voice said. Meghan listened hard for a moment, but was still puzzled as to the identity and validity of this voice being human. "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."

The feel of the badge in her hand called Meghan back to the present. She pinned the badge proudly to her robes and strode purposefully into the Ministry. It almost felt like the days before their death, when she had strode in the same way, her destination the same.

"Louise Campbell," she told the man checking wands as she handed him her wand. He nodded briskly.

"Rosewood and phoenix feather, twelve inches, been in use twelve years?" the man read off the paper the machine spit out.

"Correct," she affirmed, smiling at the man, who smiled back, handing her the wand back. "I'm looking for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?" she asked, although she didn't need directions. That was the department the Aurors worked in.

"Second level," he told her, pointing to the lift. Meghan nodded her thanks and headed into the lift.

Arriving at the second level, she was overcome by a strangely calming feeling of immense nostalgia as she walked past the Auror office. She had completed her training three years prior at twenty and had been assigned to the Auror team with the office in between her husband and his partner's office and James and his partner's office. They had shared many a laugh at the expense of their coworkers, of course via the trio's infamous pranks. She sighed gustily before knocking on the head's door.

"Come in," Amelia Bones's voice came. She had been three years ahead of the Marauders at school, four ahead of Meghan. The rapidly graying, redheaded twenty-eight-year-old sat at a huge oak desk covered with a couple layers of official-looking paperwork. When Meghan opened the heavy door, her head, which had been bent over one bundle of paperwork, snapped up. "Good morning, Miss…Campbell," she read off the nametag, greeting the other woman cordially. "I need to talk to Miss Smith about the badges," she said with a wry chuckle. "What mission does she consider—ah—'hopeless'—now? A few months ago, it was someone hoping for some new legislation against Muggle-baiting…Arthur Weasley, I believe. He was just recently hired to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, if I remember correctly. Said something about working in Flourish and Blott's prior to that. But I digress. What brings you here, Miss Campbell?"

"I'm here to present evidence for the innocence of Sirius Black, Madam Bones," Meghan said respectfully but firmly. Bones gasped.

"Miss Campbell, you can't be serious," she gaped.

"Ma'am, I just said that's why I'm here," she said patiently, drawing a small, crooked smile from Bones. "Sirius Black is innocent."

Bones slumped over her piled-up paper work with a sigh, knowing she wasn't acting professional and not caring anyway. "Go away, please, Miss Campbell. We have nothing left to know about the case. It's closed. Black is bleeding guilty all ready. I can't help you. I have enough to do right now, if you please."

"Madam Bones, I really think you should listen to me—"

"No. Go away, please, Miss Campbell," she repeated, picking up her quill once more and dipping it in her inkwell.

"Under the circumstances, call me Louise. You're going to be seeing a lot of me if you don't care to listen now."

"Go away, Miss—Louise," she repeated for a third time. "Forget you ever knew the name Black. Take my advice—never even say his name again. Just leave, and please don't come back," Bones said tiredly, waving a hand at Meghan.

"Well, Sirius, love, I tried," Meghan told the ceiling, tears gathering in her eyes. In a quick flash of cobalt blue, the truly black-haired woman swept out of the room, managing to be regal despite her despair. Bones just sighed and let her prematurely grayed head drop heavily onto the very solid desk with a bump.

"Ow. I can't believe it. Someone actually wanted to get bloody Black off the hook," she muttered to herself. "Louise Campbell. I've never even heard of her, especially not romantically attached to Black." She sighed again. "Which is good, because she's caught my curiosity. But at the same time, I really don't want to see that woman again. She gives me the bloody creeps." Bones picked her head off her desk with a slight effort.

Meghan heard every word Amelia Bones had to say about Louise Campbell. She decided she needed to research a back-up school, in case anyone asked her where she had gone to school. _I'll ask Mum when I get home,_ she promised herself.

She didn't all-out start crying until she had Apparated to a quiet, remote meadow near Gryffindor/Potter Manor and hidden behind a huge tree that she sometimes felt was an old and dear friend. She and James and the rest of their childhood friends had used to come out to the meadow to play when their parents evicted them from the Manor premises for a few hours to leave them some peace. Meghan and Sirius had come to the special spot for some time alone before his seventh year. They had actually dreamed of someday building a house on that spot, just to be at home as they always were in the beautiful, tranquil meadow.

She sat in between the roots of the giant ash tree and sobbed her heart out onto the knees of her robes. "No one believes me, and Sirius is stuck in Azkaban for life," she cried to the meadow. She just sat there for about half an hour, crying. Her head snapped up when her tears were spent. She wanted to do something to show she could do this. In a fit of fancy, she put two fingers to her lips and gave a piercing whistle, the type Kate could do very well. She had taught Meghan, who was apparently a "natural". Then, using her overlapped hands, as Sirius had taught her long ago, she trilled out a bird's summer song. Summer was long over, and very few birds remained in the dying meadow. But one bird whistled back to her. Meghan, who had never been much for Divination, nonetheless took it as a sign that she was not to give up hope.

She Apparated to the comfortable Potter living room. As soon as she materialized, she saw hers and Sirius's wedding picture. Sirius waved at her, and her tears came bubbling to the surface once more.

Elizabeth Potter walked in an hour later. Her daughter, seeing one of the only two remaining pillars in her life, stumbled into her mother's arms, sobbing. Elizabeth, understanding, hugged her daughter and only surviving child and murmured comforting words in the young woman's ear.

Insert ANOTHER ANOTHER BREAK

Andrew exchanged a worried look with Elizabeth when he walked into the room after returning from work at the Ministry to see his strong, tall daughter sitting curled up on the couch with a box of tissues next to her. She was reminiscing about the childhood she, Sirius, Sirius's brother Regulus, Remus, James, Matt Arthurs, Mary Smythe, Jane, and Jane's sister Marlene— or Marly—had shared. A photo album of the long, happy years sat on her lap. She paged through it slowly, by turns crying, then laughing through the tears that streamed down her cheeks. They left tracks on the young woman's face. Elizabeth beckoned him into the kitchen adjoining the family room. Andrew ran a hand through his unruly black hair and followed her.

"What happened to Meggie, Liz?" he asked a little anxiously, knowing that his only daughter was not easily shaken. He ran his hand through his hair again. Elizabeth smiled at his use of his pet name for their daughter.

"Amelia Bones threw her out, from what I was able to get out of her," Elizabeth explained in a low voice. Andrew winced. "Totally rejected her. She was hoping to get Sirius off with some evidence, maybe even testimony under Veritaserum. Not to mention she might have got Narcissa Malfoy out of the way with that. That woman!" Her righteous anger was often directed at the Malfoy woman ever since Meghan had turned up.

Andrew sat heavily at the kitchen table. Elizabeth sat beside him and patted his hand reassuringly. "She'll be fine, you'll see," she told him. "As soon as everything blows over, you'll have the old Meghan back."

Suddenly, an enormous Siberian tiger padded into the room on heavy white paws. Her large blue eyes were slightly red-rimmed as she looked up at her parents. Andrew scratched behind the tiger's ears comfortingly, making her purr. Elizabeth smiled at her Animagus daughter. "Sirius will come back, Meg," she whispered consolingly. "You'll see."

Insert ANOTHER ANOTHER ANOTHER BREAK

Sorry. As I mentioned before, I am on an immense SUGAR HIGH and a musical MISSING PERSONS PROBLEM

Whatcha think?

M: Madam Pearl would like to mention that she has a bit of a breakdown in this chapter. Madam Pearl maintains that she never has breakdowns.

LP: Madam Author would like to ask Madam Pearl who came up with Madam Pearl in the first place.

M: Madam Pearl concedes her point reluctantly.

Luv ya all and all that jazz, still listening to Missing Persons,

LysPotter and Meghan


	4. 3 An Inner Outsider's View

**Disclaimer:** Hear ye, hear ye, this declaration is to inform you (hereafter referred to as the READER) that I (hereafter referred to as the ASPIRING AUTHOR) do not own Harry Potter (hereafter referred to as the PUBLISHED WORK), written by JKR (hereafter referred to as the PUBLISHED AUTHOR) for monetary gain (hereafter referred to as the MOOLAH). The ASPIRING AUTHOR simply writes for the READER'S pleasure, and of course, has borrowed the PUBLISHED WORK for those purposes. The ASPIRING AUTHOR makes none of the MOOLAH from this, unlike the PUBLISHED AUTHOR, and hopes the READER enjoys the BORROWED WORK.

**Previously: **Meghan tries and fails to get Sirius out of prison, due to annoying Ministry pigheadedness. Amelia Bones proves that she can get stuck in a rut.

_" Suddenly, an enormous Siberian tiger padded into the room on heavy white paws. Her large blue eyes were slightly red-rimmed as she looked up at her parents. Andrew scratched behind the tiger's ears comfortingly, making her purr. Elizabeth smiled at her Animagus daughter. "Sirius will come back, Meg," she whispered consolingly. "You'll see." "_

**Warnings:** Swearing. Not much else. Very little action, mostly chronicling. Action comes possibly next chapter. Not much, but there is some.

**Chapter Three: An Inner Outsider's View**, which chronicles third and most of fourth year mostly from a certain tiger's point-of-view instead of our usual view.

And she was right. Meghan's annual—or even more frequent—visits did little more than forge a friendship with Amelia Bones—which, although she knew the intricacies of the DMLE, did nothing to save her husband. Luckily enough, his mind—which Meghan had long suspected was out of commission—got him freed…extralegal as it was. The year Meghan turned thirty-five, Sirius Orion Black, Meghan's husband and father to Matthew John Black, escaped the wizarding stronghold of Azkaban. Meghan longed to see him, hoping that, even after their twelve years of separation, he would still love her. She had heard how dementors cost people their happiest memories, and twelve years of it would doubtless have called away most of his good memories, leaving but a trace that needed to be revived through spending time with those who knew his happiest memories.

She knocked on Amy Bones's door a few days after the escape. Her hair and eyes were appropriately brown. "If you're not Louise, come on in."

"What if it is Louise?" she asked innocently.

"Come on in anyway," the head of the DMLE said resignedly. "I've got the time for a cup of tea and a good gossip."

"And to hear me gab at you about Sirius?" she asked, opening the door. The woman was already conjuring up a tea service.

"Sure, why not? I've had a few more depressing things happen in my days than hearing a woman try to defend a mass murderer."

"Sounds good to me. Thank you," she said, accepting the tea Amy handed her. "So how are you, Amy dear?"

"Same as ever. A little grayer, a little more tired, but pretty much the same. Aren't you happy? Black's out of prison now."

"Yes, but I'm aiming to find him and get him off the hook."

But first, as she had said, she had to find the man. She had a pretty good idea where he would be hiding—the Marauders' fortress, the Shrieking Shack. The Hogsmeade attraction had been rumored to be haunted—caused by Remus's (as Moony the werewolf) screaming.

Waking early one morning, she wrote a note to her parents.

_Heading to Hogsmeade today to meet close friend. May or may not be back anytime soon. Will see you later. With love, MPB._

Banishing it to their room, she dressed in halfway Muggle clothing, a pair of comfortable jeans with a T-shirt and some casual robes.

She put on a pair of false glasses (whose lenses did absolutely nothing to her already-perfect eyesight) with wide blue rims and used a glamour charm to turn her long, straight hair blonde. Her eyes, she turned to a rather unremarkable hazel. Her bright sapphire color made her far too noticeable—rather like Lily and Kate's emerald.

"My name is Janet Hawthorne and I'm American," she tried. Having studied many languages—although she only spoke and wrote Latin and Spanish—and being especially quick to pick up accents when traveling, her Alabaman twang was flawless.

"I'm a wizarding tourist from Montgomery, Alabama," she told her reflection in the mirror. "No one is to suspect I'm Meghan Potter-Black and I'm really scouting out Sirius Black. Because I'm just another tourist," she said with a manufactured, yet excited, smile.

And she was right. Not one of the shop owners or the shoppers was suspicious as to a tourist during the completely _wrong_ season. It was just getting to the end of the English winter, and it was very chilly and not conducive at all to tourism. But wizards were oddballs, so no one even looked her way twice.

She had deliberately chosen a weekend that the Hogwarts students went to Hogsmeade, hoping to both see Matt and find Sirius. She did see Matt—reappearing from under his uncle's cloak by the Shrieking Shack, only a moment later rushing off toward the town. As soon as Matt left, she looked a little more closely at the Shack. Suddenly, a large, shaggy black dog emerged from behind the aging building. She waited until Matt's friends, a redhead who must have been a Weasley and a brunette she eventually realized was probably her goddaughter Anne, had gone back to Hogwarts before calling to the dog. She had recognized the dog immediately for what it really was: her husband in his dog Animagus form.

He either didn't hear her or didn't trust this strange-looking woman. Finally, annoyed by Sirius's reluctance to come to her, she took a deep breath, changed shapes, and exhaled in her Siberian tiger form.

The dog stopped edging behind the Shack, instead running toward her. Both animals tried to jump the fence at the same time. Meghan, as the larger tiger, bowled them both over the fence and they rolled toward the Shack.

Somewhere along the way, the two transformed back into humans. For a split second, dark gray eyes met pure sapphire blue (Meghan had lost the glamour charm when transitioning between forms). Then, the long-parted couple's lips met, and nothing else mattered.

The world came to a standstill for the two lovers. Nothing short of the end of the world could have pulled them apart voluntarily.

Need for air eventually caused them to break the fierce kiss. Meghan half-dragged a shocked Sirius into the Shrieking Shack to talk. "No one better see you," both said at the same time.

"You're dead," Sirius continued.

"Am I?" Meghan asked, a little distractedly. "Funny, when I looked in the mirror this morning I looked pretty well alive." She thought on that for a moment. "Actually, it's funny you should bring my death up and all," she tried to joke.

Her feeble attempt at humor succeeded. Sirius laughed. The former full-throated, infectious laugh had faded into the sound that was more like a hollow bark or mirthless chuckle. Meghan winced.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," she said quietly.

"I know you'll have a good excuse for not giving me my freedom on a silver platter twelve years ago," he told her, before pulling her close for a fierce kiss that left them both gasping for their elusive breath.

"I tried, love. I tried every single year, all twelve of them. The first years, I tried almost every month. Madam Bones never listened. She got into the habit of saying, when I knocked, 'Anyone but Louise can come in'. Finally she became my friend."

Sirius ignored the reference to her false name, stroking her long black hair. "I understand, my darling," he told her, kissing her forehead gently as she relaxed in his loving embrace. "Did you see our Matt?" he asked her, eyes shining,

"I did," she affirmed with a smile. "Are you sure he's your son? He looks a lot like James, right down to the hair," she joked, trying on purpose to needle him. Both of them knew it was owed to a glamour charm.

"He is your son," he said mock-sulkily. Meghan just laughed, still in his strong arms. He let her go, then grabbed her hand, spinning her out to look at the tall woman.

Sirius was gaunt, his eyes sunken. The cheerful Sirius she used to know had been so full of life, such a charismatic person. Seeing this tired man in his place, tears filled her eyes once more. Tears of helplessness. All the laughing and joking was simply a front, put on by both of them, to spare the other the knowledge of how deeply their forced parting had hurt.

Seeing his beloved wife crying, Sirius just sighed sympathetically, and pulled her into another tight embrace.

She buried her face in his gray-prison-robe-covered shoulder. He rested his chin on top of her head—Sirius was very tall—and ran his fingers through her long jet-black hair. Her forlorn tears wet his sleeve.

"Shh, darling, I'm fine," he whispered into her hair, kissing the top of her head. "I never imagined…can your parents ever forgive me?"

"They never knew of anything to forgive you for," she told him with a teary smile. "I told them everything as soon as I found them."

"Have you heard from Kate or Remus?" he asked.

"Other than through what Dumbledore or Kate and Remus themselves send Mum and Dad, no, I haven't heard from them. Considering they think I'm dead, we quite understandably haven't been in touch. I do know, however, that Remus is teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts this year. I never told them I lived out of consideration for the surrounding countryside's residents."

Sirius nodded understandingly, although he envied Remus in seeing his daughter at close quarters daily. "I know." They just stood silently in each other's embrace for a moment. Then Sirius pulled away and looked at her from arms-length. "Beautiful as ever," he whispered to her, brushing his lips over the back of her hand. "My Pearl."

Meghan laughed. "You're the only one who ever calls me that," she told him, pulling him close for another kiss. After only a few seconds, he pulled away. "I lost you in Azkaban," he explained. "Then, when I heard you were dead, I thought I might kill myself, just so I could see you again. I just want to look at you for a while, love." Meghan's eyes met his again and her lips parted in a joyous smile.

Sirius's long hair (though matted) was still as black as night, not a gray in sight despite his twelve years in Azkaban, his eyes still gray as the northern seas. He was thinner than she remembered, and the old, dirty robes he wore hung off his bony frame. But he was still a head taller than she was, and still her greatest love, almost before her son.

On an impulse, he picked her up and swung her around. She laughed, the sound like bells in a breeze. He smiled at her. Oh, how he had missed that laugh. He put Meghan down, still grinning like a Cheshire kneazle. She walked around the room of the Shack. "It feels a lot bigger without six or seven animals in here," she joked. Sirius shook his head. Sirius-the-dog, aka Padfoot, James-the-stag, aka Prongs, Peter-the-rat, aka Wormtail, Meghan-the-Siberian-tiger, aka Pearl, and Lily-the-red-tiger, aka Pyra, had joined Remus-the-werewolf, aka Moony, on full moon nights. When Kate joined the group as Sienna-the-mountain-lion, the Shack was full to bursting indeed. The boys had all become Animagi in their third year. Meghan accomplished it only three years later—in her fifth year, the rest's sixth. Lily didn't know about the feat or become an Animagus herself until she was in seventh year.

"I missed you," Meghan told him plaintively, letting her head drop onto his shoulder. "Love you."

"I missed you as well," Sirius replied in her ear. "I love you more than life itself, Meghan Aletha Potter."

"Black," she added. "Meghan Potter-Black. I married you, remember? I'd think you'd be the first to remember, seeing as, when I accepted your offer, you couldn't do anything but grin for a solid week. And since no one besides Mum and Dad even know I'm alive, you ought to call me that so I don't get too used to Campbell. I default to asking people to call me Louise instead of Miss Campbell."

"Campbell?" Sirius asked, cocking an eyebrow. During the long-winded explanation that followed, Meghan truly realized the hollowness of his eyes, the fathomless gray reaching somewhere she couldn't follow. She reached up and touched his cheek lovingly, kissing it softly. "I'm so sorry," she sighed when he looked at her with a question in his eyes. "I should have been able to get you out."

"Not your fault. I'll have a few choice words for Amelia Bones when I can say them."

"Sirius," Meghan said, chiding. "Leave my dear friend Amy Bones in peace. It's not her fault. It's really Crouch's fault."

"Oh, right. Well, I have even more good words for Crouch. Especially considering what happened with his son right after he sentenced me with no trial to Azkaban." Sirius's eyes were smoldering.

"Oh, right," Meghan remembered suddenly. "His son was caught involved in Death Eater activities, wasn't he?"

"Died in Azkaban about a year after James and Lily died," Sirius affirmed. "Crouch sent his own son to the dementors." Meghan winced.

"At least Matt's all right," she said sorrowfully. "Even if he is living with Lily's complete cow of a sister." Sirius nodded, putting his hands on her upper arms and squeezing them reassuringly. "If he's anything like his mother, he'll be just fine," he whispered in her ear, making her laugh.

BREAK

Remus John Lupin had been quite unprepared for the tangled set of emotions that set upon him when he saw his only daughter for the first time in twelve long years. He was proud of such a lovely young woman who was so smart and so kind. He felt quite a fierce run of jealousy that his brother- and sister-in-law had been able to raise Anne. But more than anything, the father felt tremendous love for the petite, studious brunette who was almost never out of the company of her longtime friends Ron Weasley and Matt Black (it was who he truly was, although he didn't yet know it).

Remus was hard-put not to drop everything and hug her and never let go when he first saw her in the train compartment. It was quite obvious that she held teachers at the highest level of respect. The shock of his hugging her like an old friend might well give his only daughter a heart attack. But it was a stretch, since the last time he'd seen her, this brunette had been a crawling one-year-old playing in the flour-covered wreck of her aunt's kitchen. He almost didn't recognize her—_almost_. It was kind of hard not to recognize his own daughter, even if she did look different than she would have naturally.

Best of all, Kate knew he was teaching their daughter, and was insanely jealous that he was able to see Anne long before she would be able to. If the prophecy were true, she and Anne wouldn't meet for another two long years. Remus also forgot to bring Kate's camera, and didn't tell her. He was unable to take any pictures. Kate thought he was being lazy and was frustrated to no end with him.

Remus, currently sitting at his desk grading papers, shook his head. And young Matt had absolutely no idea that the man whom everyone thought was trying to kill him was indeed his father. After all, hadn't he had enough death threats from crazy people he'd never met before?

Remus still couldn't believe that Sirius would try to kill Matt. After all, Matt was his own flesh and blood, and the only Black living besides Sirius himself. Sympathetic Meghan Potter-Black would have made a perfectly wonderful mother for the courageous—but neglected—boy, but she was obviously long dead and gone. Remus hated to admit it, but the chances he had of seeing his two best friends again were very near zero.

BREAK

"Sirius! You didn't!" Meghan exclaimed. Sirius had just related the time he had scared Peter's "owner", Ron Weasley, out of his wits. "Pulling a knife in the boys' dormitory! On Matt's best friend, no less! What would McGonagall say? Or, worse, Lily? What am I saying right now? Don't you ever do it again, Sirius Orion Black!" She whacked him upside the head. When she pulled her hand away, she looked at his head. Propping her fists on her hips, she demanded, "And why haven't you cut your hair?"

"It's kind of hard without my wand or any other sharp implement," he retorted impatiently. "I'd like to see you cut yours with your fingers."

"And where, pray, did you get the knife from?" Meghan asked pointedly. Her glare rivaled McGonagall's. Sirius sighed.

"Anne's cat Crookshanks got it from the kitchens for me. I had to give it back," he explained. Meghan rolled her eyes.

"You asked your best friend's daughter's cat to get you a knife from Hogwarts's kitchens?" she asked him.

"He's part kneazle," he replied. Meghan whacked him again. "What?" he demanded, rubbing where she had whacked him. "That bloody _hurt_!" he muttered. "What's wrong with the cat? He _is_ part kneazle, Meghan!"

"And that makes a bloody difference?" she demanded. "Here, I'll cut it for you." She pulled out her wand.

"Don't!" he exclaimed. "I think it adds to my completely and totally mad fashion statement, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes, that's my husband, the long-haired convict in gray," Meghan told the ceiling resignedly.

"Am not! I may be a convict, but my hair's not long," Sirius retorted sharply. "Have you looked in the mirror lately?"

"I'm a girl, it's okay. And excuse me, your hair has been growing for almost twelve straight years. It's long, trust me." Meghan looked at his hair again. "And matted. Are you sure I can't cut it?" she begged.

"My hair? Never!" Sirius declaimed heroically. "Touch not my long mane, you woman, you!"

"I'm combing it at least," she told him. He left that alone. "Hang it," she said a few minutes later. "It's not worth the trouble."

BREAK

Meghan watched, hidden, as Wormtail transformed back into the monstrosity that was Peter Pettigrew. Clenching her fists, she fought the urge to rush him and throttle the man. She had to stay hidden, or she'd give Remus a full-blown heart attack. His already being a lycanthrope complicated things like that. She didn't want to kill a friend just after seeing him for the first time in twelve years.

And Matt? Well, he was another matter entirely. So close now, she wondered what it would have been like to raise him. She nearly rushed out to her son and pulled him into one of her infamous hugs. They were infamous because she nearly killed anyone she hugged for an extended amount of time.

Seeing him, Anne, and their obviously loyal redheaded friend Ron Weasley took the reminiscent Meghan back to a time before Voldemort was anything more than a bad dream. The days she, Lily (one year ahead of her), and Katherine Bassett (the same year as Lily), would go _everywhere_ together—except classes.

She also saw, from her hidden vantage point, how Remus's eyes always flickered back to Anne as he talked mostly to Matt.

Meghan had been shocked when Sirius's arms wound around Matt's neck only seconds after he entered the room. The first time he saw his son that close in twelve years, and he tried to throttle him. Then she realized he was probably hugging him—or he _was_ insane. _Come on Sirius, I thought we worked on the Azkaban issue! _She wasn't sure which was more probable. Since you didn't hug people with a hand around their neck…she was going to have a serious talk with Sirius (no pun intended) about how he had manhandled their son…and he was going to listen. _Lay it on, Annie!_ Meghan cheered her goddaughter when she kicked her husband. _We are not letting this slide, Sirius Orion Black. No, not at all! Sirius, my God, patience. He's just Peter. Think about Matt. _She had watched in mental silence for a few moments.

_Goddamn you, Snape,_ she thought venomously a few tense minutes later, watching the tall, greasy-haired, sullen man. _You leave my husband alone. You leave Remus alone. You leave them all alone. It was years ago. Goddamn your stupid unforgiving nature. I am so sick of you, you greasy git—DON'T YOU YELL AT MY SON, YOU—SNAPE, YOU! Leave them alone—Good one, Matt, Ron, Annie!_

_Sirius, you can act,_ she thought when she heard Sirius indignantly speak to Peter about Matt and James being father and son. _Just promise me you won't try out for Broadway, what with your voice and all._

Matt, however, was not at all happy. He accused Sirius of murdering his mother and father, handing them over to Voldemort.

_Suicide, hmm?_ Meghan thought to herself. _No one has the right to kill my husband—except me, that is._

Silently, the woman/Siberian tiger watched them leave, with Peter towed along, bound by heavy manacles to Remus and Ron. _He's going to be free! Sirius won't be on the run from the law any more!_ She was squealing more loudly than she would ever have dared aloud—albeit inside her head, even following them a very short way, hidden in the shadows of the dark Shrieking Shack. _We'll be back before midnight at the very latest!_

But, alas, all was not as it seemed. She found a while later that, while Peter had easily gotten away, Sirius had escaped the dementors, barely by the skin of his teeth, and Remus had been severely unsafe when the full moon rose over the horizon. Snape (and pretty much everyone except Dumbledore) regarded Matt, Anne, and Ron as insane. Meghan searched across the country for her husband, but he could not be found.

BREAK

They weren't to be together again until Sirius/Padfoot found Meghan wandering around outside Hogsmeade one day. "We certainly seem to get separated a lot," she quipped just after he transformed into a human again. Sirius, his black hair cut somehow and clean as well, kissed her fiercely, hungrily, before pulling back. "Then again, I think I like this kind of reunion—" Sirius cut her off with another kiss, pulling away again to say, "Matt's in the Triwizard—"

"That, I know," she interrupted firmly. "I think Dumbledore is insane."

"He is. Well, his scar has also been hurting. Dumbledore thinks it means that Voldemort is getting emotional, or he's getting closer. Or possibly stronger—he's not sure which." Meghan gaped at her husband, shocked.

"Closer to Matt?" Meghan's voice was a croak.

"Yes. To our Matt—our son. Although Dumbledore thinks he's my godson, and that I'm a very devoted godfather." He smiled thinly at her. "He's been trying to convince me that he's fine and doesn't get the scar headaches anymore—that he _imagines_ them. He just doesn't want Fudge to throw me back in Azkaban."

"Neither do I," Meghan told him admonishingly. "You know, you're the best kisser out there. I don't want to lose you to some loose, evil Azkaban hussy." She looked up into his bottomless gray eyes, blue and gray locking for a short, profound moment. "You remember the day you proposed to me?" she asked the wizard.

He smiled, and years fell from his haggard face. "'Course I do, love. That was the only night in my memory that James ever threatened to hex me—besides when we started dating. And the night after I almost killed Snivellus. He didn't want anything to happen to you on my watch. And I just laughed and told him, 'Not a chance, Prongs old boy.'" He snorted with laughter, but it sounded more like a bark, dry as it was. Meghan suspected it was due in part to his long-term Animagus transformations and his change from an enthusiastic young boy into a solemn man. "And a fine job I do as a watchdog. I'm hardly ever with you."

"No, Sirius," Meghan pressed. "I meant, do you remember _how_ you proposed to me? The evening we had?"

"Of course." Sirius smiled again, a little wistfully. "It was on that one early-summer date we had back in 1976 here in Hogsmeade. I took you out to the little garden behind that one restaurant just as the sun was setting. You asked me what the hell I thought I was doing, and told me that you were getting 'bloody damn cold, even if it was bloody summer'." He chuckled. "You had quite a mouth on you at eighteen."

"And look at me now, big old thirty-six-year-old, aren't I?" she joked. "Please continue, dear."

"You got this weird look on your face when I sat you down on the bench and just knelt down in front of you. Then, your entire face lit up when I pulled out the ring box. I remember thinking: _she had better like this. Moony measured around her finger while she was sleeping at great risk to his life, and he won't do _that_ again._ You were especially vocal if anyone woke you up before noon if you were still asleep. But I shouldn't have worried. As soon as I asked, you jumped on me, and started kissing me. I remember James asking if there had actually been a proposal, or if I just now wore lipstick."

Meghan laughed. "I remember that too. But I also remember the night before, when I stayed over at your apartment, and I asked you if you thought any of my zits were getting bigger." She blushed.

"And I told you I saw none. Just perfection. Which was true then and still is today." She blushed brighter. He spun her into his arms and kissed her, long, slow, and sweet. It was the kiss of two lovers that had all of time with each other.

"Matt may come sometime so we don't always have to scavenge for food," Sirius murmured in his wife's ear.

"Speak for yourself. I'm going to put on a glamour charm and go into the village to get us food. I don't feel like foraging for my dinner, now or ever." Meghan raised her eyebrows at Sirius.

"And leave me here, all alone?" Sirius asked. The thirty-seven-year-old made his best effort at a youngster's puppy-dog eyes. Being a dog Animagus, his were actually rather good. Meghan just gave him a look. She didn't relent, being used the puppy-eyes ploy. It was employed quite a bit by the Animagus "I'm going, whether you like being left at the Aurors' mercy or not. I'm not planning on eating rats," she told him.

Sirius gulped. "Rats?" he asked, looking just a little sickened. Okay, he was completely sickened.

Meghan pulled on the ratty sleeves of her robes, promising herself that she would go home and grab some new ones soon. "What were you planning to eat? Turnips?"

"Would it be wrong to say yeah?" Sirius asked. Meghan laughed. "Besides, I don't really like turnips. So feel free to get some food from the village, dear."

BREAK

Kate Granger-Lupin was sitting in the living room of Moonlight Cottage, sipping tea and reading the copy of Witch Weekly she received, well, weekly. She choked on her tea and spewed half a mouthful over the magazine when a particularly interesting headline caught her eye, concerning her godson.

"_Harry Potter's Secret Heartache_?" she asked herself when she had regained her breath. She knew that Matt's father was innocent now, and that had calmed the excitable woman's nerves quite a bit. She really couldn't imagine the laughing, joking Sirius handing his brother- and sister-in-law to Voldemort—or handing anyone to the charlatan. But as she read the Rita Skeeter article, she became more and more indignant on both Anne's and Matt's behalf, furious with the author of the article.

"Love Potion? Ugly?! My daughter is not ugly! Viktor Krum? My daughter went to the Yule Ball with an international Quidditch player that is only seventeen? Are she and Matt in love or not? I don't understand this at all!" Remus came into the room, a Muggle newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"What's all the screeching about, Kate?" he asked his wife tiredly. He knew that his wife was the screechy type of person whenever someone infringed on her delicate internal balance. "Oh. Witch Weekly. Is Rita Skeeter writing more trash about Matt?"

"And Anne," Kate said angrily. "This idiot Parkinson girl says she's really ugly and is using a love potion on Matt and Viktor Krum, whom she apparently went to the Yule Ball with."

"Oh, you're kidding," Remus said with a dry laugh. "Anne is not ugly, Katherine. She'd never mix up a love potion, and Pansy Parkinson is a lying, dried-up, pug-faced Slytherin," he told his fuming wife matter-of-factly. "And I can even say things like that because I'm not a teacher anymore."

"Aren't all Slytherins like that?" she asked him. "From what you've told me, that's what I've figured out."

The Marauder uncharacteristically flushed. "Ah, Kate, would you be terribly upset if I told you that I neglected to mention that Severus Snape teaches our daughter?"

"_Snape_?" Kate exploded. "Your school-days' Marauder enemy teaches our book-minded daughter?" She calmed, but only slightly. "He doesn't know she's yours though, so he can't hate her all that much." She thought a little more on the subject. "But, on the other hand, she was Sorted into Gryffindor…"

"Yes," Remus agreed. "And if there's one thing Snape hates as much as he hates Marauders, it's every single Gryffindor on the planet. And Anne is one of his least favorites. He often targets her because of her intelligence and close relationship to Harry Potter."

"Our Anne is one of Severus Snape's targets?" she demanded.

"No to mention that Draco Malfoy calls her a Muggleborn—using, of course, the favored Malfoy pureblood terminology." Remus's Canadian wife swore fluently in French.

"I hate purebloods like that," she told him savagely in English—with a perfect British accent, her pride and joy—as she ripped her copy of Witch Weekly into tiny pieces. "I'm going to stop my subscription to Witch Weekly, and I'm never reading Rita Skeeter again. Not that I ever did in the first place."

"I think 'Hermione' is going to be the target of an awful lot of hate mail from all of 'Harry's' wonderful, worshipping fans," Remus observed. "As her mother, you might consider sending her a nice, sympathetic letter—anonymously, of course. That would really brighten up her—" Kate already had out her quill, ink, and parchment. "Day," he finished rather weakly.

Kate sharpened her quill and tapped the feather end against her lips. "Hmm. Dear Hermione," she began…

BREAK

" 'I think Rita Skeeter is a cow'?" Anne read, astonished, handling the paper carefully in her heavily bandaged hands. " 'She is so very wrong about you. I have it on good authority that you are a very nice, sensitive, and pretty young woman. Don't let that Skeeter woman pull you down. I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to sign this by someone who is reading over my shoulder. Sincerely, An Admirer of a Smart Witch'. My one non-hate letter and I'm not allowed to know who sent it to me?" Anne Rose Lupin—aka Hermione Jane Granger—sat down on a Gryffindor-colored couch with a huff.

Matt Black—aka Harry Potter—sat next to her. Ron Weasley sat on her other side. "You know, she seems to share your opinion of Rita Skeeter, 'Mione," Matt laughed slightly.

'Hermione' started at his use of the nickname. It confused her. "'Mione?" she asked him.

"D'you mind?" he asked, awkward and a little worried. "I'll stop if you want. It just seemed right."

"Oh, I don't know. It just sounded wrong…almost like it didn't fit. I don't know, but I don't think I'll go by that. Call me it if you want," she interrupted herself, thoroughly confused. It was an unfamiliar state for the bookworm. "I just don't think my parents ever did."

"Don't ask me," Matt said rather morosely. "I never knew my own parents past a year and I certainly don't know yours." He leaned back into the downy couch. "I just wish I'd had the chance to know my parents. Yours I can meet. My own, never." His sigh was eloquent and wistful.

BREAK

"Did you know I actually got to give Matt permission to go to Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked Meghan.

"I thought you were a convicted criminal," she said bluntly. "I didn't think they were reserved any of those rights."

"I am," Sirius replied with a laugh that had regained more of a mirthful quality. "I'm the only escaped convicted wizard around."

"And to think you're my husband," she said sweetly. "I'll bet you that I'm the only legally dead person that can walk around and tell people she's married to the only convicted—but innocent—Azkaban escapee."

Sirius turned her around and made all further conversation completely impractical. Meghan melted into his arms, kissing him back lovingly.

One day later, Meghan was sitting on Sirius's lap. She looked down from the grass strands she was plaiting at his dirty gray robes. "You know, Sirius, you really need a good bath and some new clothes as soon as possible." Sirius grunted. "I don't care what you say, I'm going to beglamour you very, very soon, and take you into town. Don't make that face at me, sir—We're going to get you some new clothes, and I'll make you take a bath at that wonderful, cozy little inn in Hogsmeade. I can't seem to remember the name right now. I don't care if extreme force is necessary—you hear that, oh dear husband of mine? What will Kate say when we tell her about how you've been gallivanting all over the world, dirty—and hovering severely over your son?" she said disapprovingly.

"Hey! He's yours too!" Sirius protested. "Better watch what you say to me, lady, or I'll dump you off, see if I don't."

"Oh, please don't, sir. I'm enjoying my seat on your bony legs that are effectively cutting off my already-poor circulation."

"Meghan," Sirius whined. "You go on starvation rations for about twelve years and see how plump you are then. Besides, I'm not the only one who's skinny. You're skinny too. At least I've got muscle, missy."

"Oh, is that what you call it?" she asked patiently, poking him in the ribs behind her back. "I thought it was called fat."

Sirius dumped her on the ground.

Meghan turned into the enormous Siberian tiger and stretched out languorously on the ground, soaking up the early summer sun's warmth.

Sirius turned quickly into Padfoot and nudged Pearl the tiger playfully in the ribs with his nose. Pearl bared her teeth in a savage grin. Padfoot backed up, a little worried for the tiger's sanity and his own physical safety. The tiger bounded for him and jumped on him, flattening the smaller dog as he desperately turned back into a man, trying to bear his tiger-wife's weight. She turned back into a human not a moment too soon, laughing uncontrollably at Sirius's plight. He shoved her off him and sat up.

"So you find that funny, woman?" the escaped convict growled menacingly. "I'll give you funny, then." He started to tickle Meghan.

Now, if there is one embarrassing, revealing thing you should know about all Potters, no matter their dignity (or lack thereof) or size, it is that they are all very ticklish, especially the bottoms of their feet. Sirius was quite aware of this fact, having grown up with two especially ticklish, prankster Potters, and used this fact to his advantage.

All Blacks (whether or not they admit it), on the other hand (or foot, shall we say), are ticklish in their torso region. _Meghan_, for her part, was well aware of this fact, and so, in retaliation, tickled Sirius mercilessly.

"Ha, ha—Meghan, stop—ha, ha—no," Sirius laughed.

"Think—ha, ha—you should—hee, hee—stop—ha, ha—now?" Meghan asked her husband through her irrepressible giggles. But, Sirius did no such thing. If anything, he tickled her harder. Soon, Meghan Aletha Potter-Black was sprawled on the ground, giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Look at Little Miss Prefect now," Sirius laughed.

Meghan sat up abruptly with a pained cry. Sirius immediately stopped tickling her, sensing something was amiss.

"What is it, love?" he asked her, worried.

"Matt's in trouble," she said, and changed into her tiger form as she sped towards Hogwarts.

BREAK

A/N: This one hasn't been updated in a LONG, long while, even though I have tons more of it, so I suspect I'll be updating more now…SORRY for the wait, if anyone reads this. Hope you enjoy mostly Meghan's view of the events leading up to fourth year and the Third Task. The next chapter will include more of Remus and Kate as well as Sirius. Still not very much Harry/Hermione/other children action. Not for a little while. We know what happens to them. We don't know what happens to Meghan and the other "insider-outsiders". Does that support my logic? I don't know….

Sorry for any discrepancies where law in concerned or anything else. As I am only 13, I don't know a whole lot about law at the moment.

M: She's writing this in Anna's Story at school. If her English teacher wasn't so nice, there wouldn't be an author's note like this at the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoy. And I'm in this! I can't believe she put the part in about ticklish Potters!! I'm offended! (_attacks LP, tickling special tickling spot_)

LP: (_laughing hysterically_) Sorry! Sorry! It was necessary! Well, babye now, luv ya all!!! (_still laughing hysterically_)

Lotsa love and sorry for the wait,

LysPotter


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